Astronomers have developed a physics-based method to remove residual starlight from James Webb Space Telescope images, improving sensitivity to faint planets by two to 15 times and revealing the known giant exoplanet 51 Eridani b at a wavelength where earlier processing failed [science.org][nature.com][scimex.org]. The method, called Physics-based Learning for Imaging Planets, or FLIP, models the telescope’s optics and adjusts for small changes that make conventional reference-star images imperfect matches [nature.com][scientificamerican.com]. The method works with existing observations without changes to telescope hardware [reddit.com]. The team is now reprocessing the hundreds of coronagraphic images JWST has collected to look for additional planets [science.org]. Researchers say the approach could ease strict stability requirements for future observatories, but further work is needed to reduce computing costs and test it on larger data sets [nature.com][scimex.org][theregister.com]. Highlights: • Calibration process: FLIP first calibrates its instrument model using a reference JWST observation, then tunes it to match the science image; the team aims eventually to skip the first stage and save telescope time [nature.com][science.org]. • Test sample: The researchers examined JWST observations of HIP 65426 and 51 Eridani, both with known planets, and TYC 5899, with no known planetary companions [phys.org][reddit.com]. • Transfer challenge: The framework could be extended to other observatories, but developing model-based point-spread functions for ground-based telescopes and other space telescopes would be harder than for JWST [science.org]. Perspectives: Sasha Hinkley, University of Exeter astronomer: Hinkley said avoiding observations of other stars solely to build reference point-spread functions could free telescope time, allowing astronomers to observe more stars and planets and obtain better images [science.org]. (Science) Dimitri Mawet, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory senior research scientist: Mawet cautioned that the Habitable Worlds Observatory’s optics would still need to hold steady to within a trillionth of a meter to image Earth-like planets [scientificamerican.com]. (Scientific American) "We know of no planets around other stars that are like those in our own solar system. It's not that they don't exist. It's that we cannot see them." — Rodrigo Ferrer-Chavez, Northwestern University doctoral researcher and study lead Sources: • Astronomers sharpen JWST’s view of distant worlds - science.org • Imaging exoplanets below the telescope stability limit - nature.com • New technique cuts through starlight to find giant exoplanet lost in JWST data - reddit.com • Removing the glare from telescope images to help find exoplanets - scimex.org • NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is wobbly—scientists have a fix that could reveal new alien worlds - scientificamerican.com • Giant planet emerges from two-year-old JWST data thanks to glare-removal technique - phys.org • Boffins use machine-learning tricks to create a starlight dimmer switch - theregister.com --- 📰 Story aggregated by Kagi News